VF Battery issue

[Travis B]

Hi, new member here, wish to query any assistance/knowledge re VF Battery drainage issues. 2014 GTS, 22,000kms. Battery continually drains every day until flat after about 3-4 days. Have replaced 3 times in recent 3 months. Father has the same GTS, built a month later - no issues, he’s a mechanic and attempting to diagnose. Has anyone experienced? Any suggestions? Car has had Harrop modifications. I purchased in oct 2019. Previous owner is friend of family, no known prior issues. Thanks in advance.

 

[Skylarking]

VF battery is charged under control of BMC which uses a current sensor on the battery lead. Via this sensor the BMC can measure how much juice has gone into and out of the battery and thus calculates its state of charge. The BMC then commands the generator to do its bidding which can actually be a number of things including a desulphation mode, bulk charge , etc. Via the drivers information center, DIC, you can view the battery voltage which can swing up to 15.something volts in some situations.

So if you are having charging issues, load test the battery, check the current sensor and generator and their wiring. Also check for any pending or hard fault codes the vehicle may have generated.

The VF workshop manual has a good section of how to diagnose and repair battery/charge issues, see this post for a link to the PDF.

 

[Travis B]

VF battery is charged under control of BMC which uses a current sensor on the battery lead. Via this sensor the BMC can measure how much juice has gone into and out of the battery and thus calculates its state of charge. The BMC then commands the generator to do its bidding which can actually be a number of things including a desulphation mode, bulk charge , etc. Via the drivers information center, DIC, you can view the battery voltage which can swing up to 15.something volts in some situations.

So if you are having charging issues, load test the battery, check the current sensor and generator and their wiring. Also check for any pending or hard fault codes the vehicle may have generated.

The VF workshop manual has a good section of how to diagnose and repair battery/charge issues, see this post for a link to the PDF.

Thankyou very much! I really appreciate your very descriptive and detailed info. I will pass onto my mechanic father.

 

[BlackVXGTS]

Battery drain is frequently caused by light bulbs staying on when they should have been turned off. The BCM (Body control module) should automatically turn these lights off in the VF but mistakes happen. Most common culprits are boot light, glove box light, dome light etc.

 

[shane_3800]

First thing is to determine if it's a charge issue or a battery drain. Install a amp meter between the positive post and positive clamp run leads out through the boot lock the car. wait an hour come back and check the amp meter if it's above 100-300 miliamp it may have a drain if it's at 1 amp there is defiantly a drain.

If it's below 100 miliamp start looking at charge issues.

 

[Travis B]

Battery drain is frequently caused by light bulbs staying on when they should have been turned off. The BCM (Body control module) should automatically turn these lights off in the VF but mistakes happen. Most common culprits are boot light, glove box light, dome light etc.

Thankyou mate, appreciated! Being checking these as much as possible, number of diagnostics performed by my father, just seems to drain battery, cause still not understood. Dropped off with an autoelec today. Thanks again mate

 

[Travis B]

First thing is to determine if it's a charge issue or a battery drain. Install a amp meter between the positive post and positive clamp run leads out through the boot lock the car. wait an hour come back and check the amp meter if it's above 100-300 miliamp it may have a drain if it's at 1 amp there is defiantly a drain.

If it's below 100 miliamp start looking at charge issues.

Thankyou mate, very much appreciated! Dropped off with auto elec today.

 

[Shem]

Thankyou mate, appreciated! Being checking these as much as possible, number of diagnostics performed by my father, just seems to drain battery, cause still not understood. Dropped off with an autoelec today. Thanks again mate

Find the problem?

 

[BlackVXGTS]

Travid B was a new member. No follow-up to provide the results (unfortunately only too common). I doubt you will get a reply after almost two years.